Legendary firefighter known as “the Rookie,” Arnett Hartsfield, will be honored Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. in acknowledgement of his retirement as a volunteer with the African American Firefighter Museum.
The 94-year-old Hartsfield is one of the early victims of racial discrimination within the city’s fire department, and has spent the last 15 years volunteering at the firefighter museum.
Hired in 1940, the then Seattle transplant was stationed in a segregated fire station. When the city integrated in 1955, Hartsfield helped found an organization called the Stentorians to protect African American firefighters.
A graduate of the USC School of Law, Hartsfield has dedicated much of his life to telling the story of Black firefighters.
The museum is located at 1401 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles, in the home of the Historical fire station No. 30. For information, call (213) 744-1730.
